How to Stretch to Relieve Sore Muscles

This article was co-authored by Michele Dolan. Michele Dolan is a BCRPA certified Personal Trainer in British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002.

There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

Sore muscles can be quite painful and hinder your daily life and activities. While stretching cannot relieve muscle pain, it may help you feel better temporarily. You can try these at home, the office, or other places without having to resort to fancy massages or expensive drug remedies.

Steps

Part One of Four:Stretching Sore Arm and Leg Muscles

1

Warm up with dynamic stretches for 5 minutes. Dynamic stretches move your joints through their full range of motion. These activities can help lubricate your joints and make your static stretches safer. Try arm and leg circles, squats, and knee to chest stretches.[1]

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Use static stretches that focus specifically on the sore muscles. Static stretches are where you lengthen a muscle and hold the stretch for 20-60 seconds (10-15 for children). You should always start a workout with dynamic stretching and finish with static stretching.

Always hold static stretches for 20-60 seconds. Alternatively, time your stretches to last at least 3 or more deep breaths, making sure that you exhale slowly.

When your muscles are stiff, you need to work on stretching them out. Be careful not to overdo it, but make sure you pay special attention to the muscles that are giving you discomfort.

Stretch your calf muscles. If your calves are sore, try some calf stretches. Sore calf muscles can be very uncomfortable. You have to use your calves a lot for walking, so it’s more difficult to give your calves the break they need when they are sore.

A standing stretch is a great way to stretch your calf muscles. Step 1 leg behind you, digging your heel into the ground. Lean forward to stretch the muscles.

Another way to do this is to step forward instead of backwards, with your toes propped up and pressing against a wall. Lean forward to stretch the muscles.

Stretch your thigh muscles. These muscles are very important ones that you use all the time in your everyday movement. These stretches can help relieve tightness in the front of your thigh.

Stand up straight and tall. Push the hip on the side you are stretching forward. Take your right leg and use your hand to hold your foot at your butt.

Hold this for 20-60 seconds and repeat with your left leg.

5

Stretch tight hamstrings. The hamstrings are muscles between your hips and knees. To stretch these muscles, stand with your feet together and bend over at the waist. Focus on rolling your spine forward as you reach toward the floor. Let your head and arms hang while your leg muscles stretch.

If you have soreness in your back, try lying with your back flat on the ground. Grasp the ends of a towel, and place one foot in the towel with the knee slightly bent. Pull the towel towards your torso to stretch your leg. Hold it 20-60 seconds.

Stretch your sore shoulder muscles. Sore shoulder muscles need extra love and care to speed up the recovery process. Attempt to stretch out your shoulder muscles to help reduce the discomfort of soreness[2]

One good stretch is to cup one elbow with the opposite hand. Then lift your elbow and pull it across your chest, making sure to keep your body stationary. Hold this pose for thirty seconds and then release. Repeat these steps on the other arm.

Another good stretch is the goalpost stretch. Grasp a resistance band, belt, or jump rope between 2 hands. Inhale and stretch your arms straight up above your head. As you exhale, bend your bends while spreading your arms apart like goalposts. Lower the belt and your shoulder blades. Repeat as you inhale.

Take it easy for a few days. When your muscles are sore, it means they are adapting to the new activity/movement and becoming stronger. However, for them to get stronger, you need to give them time to recover from the additional strain.[3]

Cut back on the exercise for a few days when your muscles are sore. Or try some lower impact exercise activities like walking or swimming while you recuperate.

Stretch sore ab muscles. Having strong core muscle strength is essential to overall health. It can also help you breathe better by stretching your diaphragm and intercostals. Try lying with your back flat on the ground. Keep your spine in a neutral position as your raise your arms straight up above your body. Hold for 20-60 seconds.

Stretch your sore glutes. Sore glute muscles can be a pain since you use them so much in your everyday life. They are key to most of your motion, especially if you are an active person or a runner.

Try the pigeon pose. Sit down on a yoga mat on the ground. Bring one knee forward to the edge of the mat and stretch the other leg behind you. Align the foot of the bent leg with your knee so that they are perpendicular to the leg stretched behind you. Lean forward if you’re able to.[4]

Stretch for general muscle soreness. There are other ways to relieve muscle soreness that involve objects or other people. Two of the most common stretches are foam rolling and assisted stretches.

Foam rolling – This process is sometimes called “self-myofascial release.” Basically, it means that you use a foam roller or a lacrosse ball to apply pressure to specific points on your body to massage out the muscle soreness.[5]

Assisted stretches – These stretches involve another person (hopefully a certified professional) who guides you through a stretching routine based on your specific flexibility needs. Sometimes they will use the pressure of their own body to help you safely achieve a deeper stretch.

Drink more water. Muscles recover from soreness more quickly when you are properly hydrated. Drink plenty of water when you are feeling muscle soreness to help speed up your recovery time.[6]

An adult man should be drinking about 3 liters of water every day and an adult woman should be drinking about 2.2 liters of water every day.[7] So, you’ll need to drink more than that (at least one liter more per day) to help counteract the soreness in your muscles.

Avoid things like alcohol and caffeinated soda that will work to dehydrate you even more.

Warm up with dynamic stretching before a workout. Static stretching, where you hold a stretch in 1 position for several seconds, can lead to injuries and more soreness if done before a workout. To prevent injury, make sure you do dynamic stretching, where you move your muscles and joints instead of holding them.[10]

Lunges, high kicks, and jump squats are all great ways to warm up before exercise.

Walking, cycling, and jogging are also great warm-ups that get your joints moving.

2

Perform static stretches after a workout. Once you have finished exercising, you can try static stretches like calf and shoulder stretches. This may help improve flexibility once your session is over.[11]

Take it slow if you are a beginner. Muscle soreness initially develops from pushing your muscles beyond their current capability. If you are just starting a workout regimen or a more active lifestyle, it is important to start out slowly and progress gradually. Doing too much too fast might do more damage than good.

Don’t increase the volume of your workout too quickly. Muscle soreness can develop from adding too much too fast to your workout regimen. A good rule of thumb is to not increase the volume of your workout by more than 10% from one workout to the next. This will help your muscles adjust slowly over time instead of being overwhelmed all at once.[12]

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Community Q&A

Use your good arm to assist the injured arm as you lift. Slowly return back to the starting position. To do the cross chest stretch, bring your injured arm across your body. Place your other hand on your elbow and hold the stretch.

It depends. Everyone needs breaks sometimes, which is why you should limit your workouts to 5-6 times a week at the most. (One to two rest days are ideal, and you should always have a rest day before working a particular muscle group for a second time.) However, some soreness is expected, and if you quit working out every time you get sore, then you'll never make any progress. If the soreness is severe, then take a day off, but if it's minimal, then try to push through it.

What does it mean if my bones crack when I stretch? It hurts too much.

Community Answer

Usually when your bones crack, it's because of fluid that is being released. If it hurts, you may have trapped a nerve or, if its near muscles, it could be DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). This occurs around 1-2 days after an intense workout without stretching afterwards. Also, if you have been doing anaerobic exercise (exercise without oxygen) like short distance running, you could have produced a by-product called lactic acid, which builds up in muscle and causes pain.
If the cracking hurts so much it brings you to tears, speak to a doctor or your GP.

To stretch to relieve sore muscles, first start by doing dynamic stretches, like arm and leg circles, for 5 minutes so you can warm up your joints and make it safer for your body to move into static stretches. Then, if your calf muscles are sore, try stretching them by putting one leg behind you, digging that heel into the ground, and leaning forward. If you have sore thigh muscles, stand on one leg and hold the other leg by your foot behind you so that it’s by your butt. When stretching, hold each position for 20 to 60 seconds at a time. Remember to listen to your muscles so you don't overdo the stretching.